Stowaway raccoon evades capture until it goes out on a limb in Airport Heights
CBC News | Posted: August 30, 2018 5:39 PM | Last Updated: August 30, 2018
Animal was on the lam for 2 weeks, evading conservation officers
A raccoon that escaped from a shipment container in St. John's sent conservation officers on the hunt for the creature, that's not indigenous to Newfoundland and Labrador.
The provincial Department of Fisheries and Land Resources said it was notified on Aug. 15 of the wayward raccoon but it escaped capture.
It was on the lam for two weeks until conservation officers received a report Wednesday of a raccoon in a tree on Oakmount Street in the Airport Heights neighbourhood of St. John's.
"A single male raccoon was tranquilized and later euthanized to ensure public health and safety. No other raccoons were suspected to be in the shipment container," a statement read.
1 to 2 captures a year
Fisheries and Land Resources says officers capture one to two raccoons per year on the Avalon Peninsula. In most cases they arrive in the province as stowaways on freight shipments.
"Given the prevalence of disease in raccoons and the inability to identify exactly where they originate, it is difficult to relocate them to other provinces," the statement said.
"Because they are not native to the island, these animals cannot be held in captivity here."
Aside from the travelling raccoons, there is no evidence of a raccoon population on the island.